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Thursday, March 05, 2015

Kenyans Still ADORE Pio Pinto in 2015

Cyprian Fernandes is a Kenya-born, Australia-based
journalist, among the first employed by the Nation Group of Newspapers.
He was the paper's Chief Reporter. He began as a sports reporter and
quickly moved to General News, Politics, Investigative journalism and
social commentary.

This passage features a conversation between

Emma Pinto (seen here with Tereshka), Pio's 86 year old widow who now lives in Canada and the Kenyan born, US-based Benegal Pereira:

How are you Emma, healthwise?

I am fine, considering my age and my handicaps. I have one
seeing eye and it is losing power. I can’t recognise people if they more than
four feet away. I also have two artificial ribs.

I had told my daughters that I never babysit their children.
Linda has a boy and a girl, Malusha has two girls and a boy and I live with
Tereshka in Otawa. She has no kids and keeps an eye on me.

I lost sight in one eye within three years of our arrival in
Canada.

You have three loving daughters…

Yes they are very attentive.

After I finished working, Tereshka suggested that I write my
autobiography. She said just spend 10 minutes a day doing it after had been to
the gym. She also wanted me to write about her dad. I have written the biography
and I did it in two months. I had nothing to do and wanted to write about my
life story, hoping that Pio would come into it as I progressed.

I have memory blockages, dates, and times, I missed.

Of course, it is important to record
or you will start forgetting things:

Yes I used the mental block as a mechanism to save my own
mind. I say mental block because once I wrote it, I did not want to read it again
… my emotions, you know?

During the first four years of my life “with” Pio, while he
was in detention, I read a lot to try and understand why he was in politics for
a country that was not his. It was just six months after we got married in
January 1954, when Pio was sent to Nairobi Prison. Fitz de Souza took me to see
him there. Soon after, Pio was moved to Fort Jesus and then to Manda Island in
Lamu.

The children were no yet born?

No they weren’t born. Thank goodness.

What was Pio like as a husband?

He was hardly ever there. Within the first six months, he
told me“you can’tstay at home”.Intelligent women don’t stay home, he said.
Take a secretarial course and find a job, he said. And take Greggs shorthand
(as opposed to the more popular Pitman’s shorthand). Pio did Greggs shorthand
and he said: “One day you will able to read my shorthand if I need you to read
back my notes.”

So I enrolled at Pioneer (did she mean Premier ) College and
started learning Greggs.

I had hardly finished the course and had to go work because
I didn’t realise that he wasn’t earning anything.

He would come home at seven or eight in the evening. I would
be quite annoyed because we had no phone and his parents were in Nairobi at the
time. Pio and I lived in the servants’ quarters of Fitz’s house and Fitz’s
parents were staying the main house. (Fitz was in England studying, hence was
not able to be at the wedding)

Pio had arranged a room for himself another for Rosario, his
wife, and his mother-in-law.

We went on a short honeymoon to Jinja where one of Pio’s
uncles lived. My parents and brother who had come for the wedding had left for
India. Pio’s parents who had come from Nyeri (his father worked in the District
Commissioner’s office) also returned home.

Pio and I moved into that room in which he had lived as a
bachelor.

For the reception, Pio’s brother had arranged everything and
the whole house was involved in the preparation of food and stuff.

At the time of the wedding,Joe Murumbi’ s first wife Cecilia and their son Jojo were staying with
us. Cecilia was probably Somali because after finishing his schooling India,
Joe went straight to Somalia. She was the daughter of a chief but that could be
just hearsay. (Fitz de Souza told Cyprian Fernandes in 2014 that he arranged
for Cecilia to divorce Murumbi. Sheila, the second wife (bigamy in any language)
was uncomfortable with Cecilia around. Fitz gave some money and she returned to
Somalia where her family was supposed well off.)

Joe Murumbi could not come to the wedding because Pio,
fearing for Joe’s safety following the detention of important elements of the
Kenya African Union, sent Joe to London. Joe was the KAU vice-president.

Did you know Pio as a political
activist, supporter of the Mau Mau?

No. I didn’t know the name, Mau Mau. (Elsewhere she says
that Pio never spoke to her about politics, it was his way of shielding her). I
knew he worked for the Indian National Congress in the Desai Memorial Building.
I was not aware he was actively involved in the African political movement.

He told me only that he worked at the Indian Congress
office.

(It is easy to the see the courage of Emma Gamma Pinto in
what turned out to be a terrifying and horrific situation. As this part of the
interview reveals, Emma continues to remain calm, pretty much in control until
she is in complete shock when the full realisation of her loss finally hits.)

In his own quiet and concerned manner Benegal raises the
difficult and sensitive question. He is always aware that he should not be
party to cause Emma any hurt, pain or anguish. He asks her:

It is now 48 years since that particular day. What do you
remember of it?

On that particular day – we were living at No.6 Lower Kabete
Road at the time. The house had been donated to Pio. He had bought me a little
car so that I could have some independence as far as transport is concerned.

The new government was now nearly 14 months old and they had
decided to get rid of all the English secretaries and Pio told me: You are
going to be the secretary to Achieng Oneko, the Minister for Information,
Broadcasting and Tourism.

Pio had dropped me off at my office in Jogoo House and had
returned home to collect his Parliamentary papers.

About an hour later, I was in Achieng’s office, around 9
o’clock when my mother called me on the phone. She had just returned from India
after taking my eldest daughter Linda there for six months.

My mother phone to say that Pio had been attacked and she
was hysterical and I said: I will be home soon. I am coming home right away.

But I am a very , very calm person in any emergency.

So I immediately phoned the Minister for Defence, Dr Njoroge
Mungai, and told his office that Pio had been attacked and said please send the
police there (to their home).

Then I picked up the phone and rang Joe Murumbi because he
would not have left the office because Parliament does not start until 11 am.
He was the Minister for Foreign Affairs. He and his wife Sheila lived five
minutes away from us. I said to him: Joe Pio has been attacked, please go to
our house.

Next, I ran into Achieng’s office and said: Can I have your
car. He said his car was in the garage for repairs or a service.

Then I rang Oginga Odinga’s office and spoke to an American
girl, Caroline Odongo, Odinga’s secretary and said to her: Caroline, Caroline,
can I get a car to take me home? Pio has been attacked. She said she would call
me back immediately. She did. She told me Odinga’s spare car was being sent
round to the front of Jogoo House and would be waiting for me. Odinga was the
first Vice-President of the country.

All the time, I assumed that Pio had been attacked and that
he had been injured and I assume … inaudible.

As I got to the gate of our house, I saw our car had been
parked at the gate and as I got out of Odinga’s care, I saw Murumbi arriving in
his car.

As we walked past the car and into our home to find about
Pio, my mother said: He is still in the car, he been killed. That was the first
time I had heard that Pio had been killed. So we both dashed out to the car and
saw that Pio’s body had been covered in a pink blanket. My mother had asked our
house servant, a nice young man called Waweru, to cover Pio.

Pio usually gave our 18-month old daughter Tereshka a ride
from the back of the house to the gate from where she would be collected by the
maid and walked home. When the maid got to the back of the car, she heard shots
and she ran back to the house to get Waweru. She really did not see too much
because she was terrified. By the time Waweru got to the car, Pio had already
been shot.

Were there any eye witnesses? A woman saw two African men,
one on either side of the car. At the trial of the man charged with the murder
(but released as innocent 35 years later) they said there were two assailants.

Are you still angry?

No. Because of my reading of political matters I am aware
that politicians lead very dicey lives. They are walking a tightrope. So when
Pio was assassinated I assumed it was part of the politician’s life.

It was shocking for me, a new immigrant to Kenya that he was
shot so soon. He had already been in detention for four years. It was tragic.

Did you feel cheated?

Well I felt disappointed that someone who had worked so hard
for freedom …in my readings, I read that bitterness is like a fire in the
corner of a house which will eventually consume the whole house. So I was
cognisant of the fact that I should never be bitter of the whole situation. It
was a fact of life. Mahatma Gandhi was murdered ….

Did you get much support from family
and friends?

My twin sister Joyce lived just down the road from me. The
people at the first private British company I worked for (International Aeradio
Limited, engineers), I don’t think they were sympathetic to Pio, but they were
sympathetic to a widow.

Joe and Sheila Murumbi took me to their home for two days.
My mother stayed with the girls at our house. Our friend Dr Eraj gave me a
sedative because I was in severe shock.

When we saw Pio’s body in the car, Joe said let’s get Pio
inside the house. Because I was in shock I have no clear memory of the people
there.

Waweru and Joe’s driver put Pio’s body in the pink blanket
and carried his body, not like a sack of potatoes, but like something, into the
living room.

Fitz de Souza (MP and Deputy Speaker) arrived at one point.
I had not phoned Fitz. I don’t know at what point Fitz was involved. Perhaps he
found out from Parliament which had been informed. (Fitz a barrister heard
while attending the Kenya High Court.)

Fitz was there when Pio’s body was brought into the living
room. I remember I sat down and they put the blanket down and I could see that
little hole under his ribs. I was sitting with Joe and Fitz, and I said: Gosh,
Pio looks so pale.”

And Fitz said: Get out of there, get out of the room.

So that was my one and only view of Pio when he was brought
into the home.

After nearly 50 years, do you feel that Kenyans have served
Pio’s memory well?

I think they are doing quite a bit to keep his memory alive.
They have named a street after him and they also included his image in a
commemorative stamp which: Heroes of Kenya and included: Tom Mboya (a rising
political star, also assassinated), Ronald Ngala (leader of people from the
Kenya coast)and Oginga Odinga (fellow
socialist, some would say communist, first vice president of Kenya and later
the opposition leader).

The street in which we lived, Kabete Road, has been name after
Pio. All the houses have been demolished, including ours and the whole area has
been redeveloped. A large shopping mall has been erected.

What was Pio like as a Member of Parliament?

As you may have realised, I was more or less the breadwinner
and Pio and I never checked our bank balance. I did not know how much we had
until he was assassinated and when I went to the bank to get the money to pay
our rent which was in arears. There was nothing. And I had to pay Cecilia’s
rent as well …

I am a little confused, Joe Murumbi
had two wives?

Yes. When he came back from England, he brought Sheila with
him. As I said before, just after 1954, Pio sent Joe Murumbi to the UK escape
arrest. Pio was sending him information about the situation in Kenya, the Mau
Mau, the detainees … so that Joe could advise the British members of Parliament
who were sympathetic to Kenya.

Did you know India’s High
Commissioner to Kenya, Apa Pant, who said that it was Pio who introduced him to
Kenyatta, Koinange and brought him into the enclaves of the Mau Mau. Did Pio
mention him to you?

Pio kept his political work completely secret from me.

Several attempts have been made to
write Pio’s story. Most, if not all, have fallen short. What is the hold-up in
writing the complete story?

In order to write someone’s story, one has to have written facts but when Pio was
shot his two friends, Pran Lal Sheth (Pranlal, a journalist, barrister and a
businessman. He was also an outstanding fighter of freedom both in Kenya and
India. Soon after Pio’s death he was deported and went to continue his battles
for people in the UK) and Sarjit Singh Heyer (an economist and a confidante of
Pio) burnt all his books, papers and other material (Pran Lal told me this
many, many years later when I visited him in England.) Pranlal had insisted
Pio’s papers be burnt and I remember seeing a bonfire that night after Pio was
shot.

Pio had his own office in the house and they took Pio’s
books, papers and everything and they burnt them. They didn’t even ask me.

They could have hidden them or taken them somewhere.

Sheila Murumbi told me later that she would have taken the
books and papers but they did not even ask her. I think Pranlal and Sarjit were
there but I can’t really recall because I was still in shock. All I remember is
when I looked at the back door I saw the big bonfire.

Do you think they did it to protect
the family?

No. Pio did not write about the family.

So why did they burn …

We have to speculate because Pranlal said that Pio was not
only involved in Kenyan politics but also in African politics… countries that
were just emerging. I guess they were concerned that Pio might have mentioned
names and they were protecting these people, the politicians, dignitaries, that
Pio had come into contact with.

I had no idea who they were because Pio never told me what
he was involved in or the personalities. Pio used have people from foreign
countries come to the house and have meetings in his office but I was never
involved. He never asked me to make tea or provide refreshments.

I just did not want anyone living in our home, even though
we had a spare room. I told Pio we should protect our family. I said we had
daughters and we must protect them.

How long did you remain in Kenya after the assassination?

I remained in Kenya for two years. I was waiting for the
tombstone which I was told was coming from Italy.

Pio is buried in Nairobi’s City Park
cemetery, is it protected?

Not really.

Was he buried in the City Park
cemetery for any reason … most Goans were buried in the Langata cemetery?

All the arrangements were made by Joe Murumbi and Fitz de
Souza. Fitz left Kenya soon after the assassination because he was afraid, he
told me so in London not so long ago. He realised he might have been in danger.
I think he was there for the funeral.

You visited Kenya twice …?

The first time Fitz invited the whole family and my mum too.
We stayed with them in their Muthaiga home.

The second time was when Achieng Oneko’s son came to Canada
and asked if he could do anything for us. He was the Minister for Tourism or
was in Tourism. My daughter Linda, husband and I took him up on the offer and
he made all the arrangements for the safari.

I know you went to meet Achieng in
his ancestral home …?

I went to his home and he had retired from work. In our
honour he had a goat slaughtered for a barbecue. He said to me: Emma this is
specially done because it our tradition.

Linda and her husband stayed with his daughter 200 yards
away. I stayed with Achieng and his wife Lois. We spent two nights there. On day
at breakfast, Lois point to a room and said that was Achieng’s office.

I asked Achieng what he did in his office. He said: Oh,
nothing it is all locked up.

I asked: All locked up? Do you have papers in there? You
must let me have some of the papers Pio wrote to you.

He said: No, no, I am not opening that door. So I said:
Please, Please.

So he went in brought out one file folder and as I leafed
through I recognised a letter in Pio’s handwriting. And I said, Achieng, give
me this letter.

He said: I am not going to give it to you.

I said: Make a copy for heaven’s sake.

He thought about it and said: We have no photocopier here.

I said: Well I am going to Nairobi for a meeting and I will
send you a copy.

We left without the letter. A day or two later, I got a call
from him saying come and have a coffee with him at his motel. When I got there,
Pio’s letter and a copy of it were there.

I said: you are not going to give me the copy? I want the
original.

He said: Why?

I said: It is my husband’s letter.

He took the letter and wrote: “Given to Emma” and signed his
name.

I was so taken up and excited with finding one letter that I
forgot to through the rest of folder.

Secondly, let us hear from Pinto's own brother, the late Rosario Da Gama Pinto, who was also a political activist in his own right. Rosario endeavoured to chronicle his sibling's historical achievements. After his death, his daughter Audrey took pains to type up his notes. As the copyright holder, she gave Cyprian Fernandes permission to post 'Pio, My Brother' on his blog cyprianfernandes.blogspot.com (February 8, 2015), a veritable and valuable trove of information on Pio Pinto:

At this
juncture, it was necessary for Pio to return to Goa
to look after our mother who was unwell and oversee the running of the family
estate.He took the opportunity to build
an underground movement for the liberation of Goa,
along with many other colleagues.

Portuguese Intelligence soon became aware of his activities and kept a
close watch on him.If it had not been
for family connections and influence, he would have been arrested and deported
to an overseas colony, like most of his colleagues.It was at this time that Pio felt that East
Africa would be his next target to put his ideals into practice and carry out
the anti-colonial campaign based on Ghandi’s principles.When he reached Kenya in 1949, he threw himself
into reading material on Kenya,
East Africa, the various tribes, customs and
culture and different patterns of colonial administration in these
territories.To avoid interruptions and
temptations of city life, he took up a job with the Magadi Soda Company, (a
subsidiary of I.C.I.) and only returned to Nairobi several years later.By this time, he was well read, knowledgeable
and au fait with the conditions prevailing in East Africa vis-à-vis the injustices suffered and the anguish of the sons of the
soil.

Pio took
up employment as a paid Secretary to the East African and subsequently Kenya
India Congress, the only forceful political forum of the Asian community where
he felt he could establish closer contact with the more progressive elements of
the Asian community.He held this
position for a few years until he branched out into journalism.His position allowed him to influence a joint
meeting between the Congress Executive and the Kenya African Union Executive,
which was considered an impossible task, bearing in mind the privileges enjoyed
by a large number of the Asian community.The agreement reached was for the Asian members of the Legislative
Council to press for increased elected African representation on the
Legislative Council and other bodies which, in the past, were represented by a
European as a Chief Native Commissioner and later by nominated and hand-picked
puppets as African Nominated Members, whereas the other communities were free
to elect their own representatives on a communal basis.

Pio then
joined The Daily Chronicle, an
English/Gujarati daily newspaper, as its editor and simultaneously co-operated
with the late D. K. Sharda, in printing and publishing The Tribune, later banned by the Government.

Pio made
his mark in journalism by highlighting the African cause, the racism and
glaring injustices that prevailed, the awful slums around Nairobi, the terrible
living conditions and lack of educational facilities for those living on the African
Reserves, the absence of employment opportunities for educated Africans (even
when they were better qualified!), the enormous amount of money spent on European
education compared with that allocated for Asians and Africans.His articles and editorials were a source of
annoyance and embarrassment to the authorities.He was often subjected to threats and other forms of intimidation, but
he was strong enough to withstand these and much more!

Pio,
together with another Goan journalist, Mike Fernandes, started a Goan paper,
the Usvad (Torch) a Konkani weekly, to highlight the Goan liberation struggle,
but this was quickly sabotaged by the Portuguese authorities who intimidated
the readers and printers and also made representations to the British
authorities who were their allies.

Pio was
also the writer of the Goan Newsletter,
which was broadcast over All India Radio Service New Delhi to Africa until his
detention and subsequently by Michael Fernandes.Pio was also the Press Trust of India
Representative in Kenya,
which allowed the press and Parliament in New
Delhi to raise protests over events in East Africa.Realising the importance of the press and the overwhelming power of the
authorities to suppress licences for the printing of newspapers, Pio used to
churn cyclostyled newsletters in various African languages and sell them at
cost, often making a loss.At this time,
Pio and W.W.W. Awori, a progressive nominated Member of the Legislative Council
(Legco), decided to buy a press, but this did not eventuate. In the interim Pio
was detained under the Emergency Regulations.

Pio
married Emma Dias in 1954.She
understood his aspirations.

Pio had,
in the interim, established contact with M.P.s in England and other Ministers in India and
acquainted them with the state of affairs, submitting memoranda and notes, as
also contributing material to the local press (owned by the European community)
and the English press, both under his own name and a nom de plume.Pio’s network has grown immensely.Africans from Madagascar even sought his
assistance and advice.Pio’s opinions
and advice were also sought by Executive Members of the Kenya African Union
(KAU).He managed to get the KAU
Executive to pass a resolution to accept that the only way to achieve
independence was by non-cooperation, protest meetings, boycotts and other
non-violent means.He was fully aware
that the European settlers were only waiting for a chance to use violence.They were well equipped and backed by the
British Government.It was only a matter
of time before there was a blood bath.

As the
situation for Africans in Kenya
grew worse, the European settlers managed to convince the British Government
that subversion had set in.As a result,
Jomo Kenyatta, Ramogi Achieng Oneko, Paul Ngei and hundreds of others were
arrested under Operation Anvil.Pio got
as much international aid, financial and legal assistance to fight their
cases.Pio also managed to arrange for
hundreds of others to be represented in virtual mock trials under the Emergency
Regulations, and their businesses and other interests safeguarded by
progressive Indian lawyers like Achroo
Ram Kapila, Fitz de Souza, Hirabhai Patel,
Bill Inamdar, etc.However, this was a
drop in the ocean considering the numbers involved.Pio, both in the press and otherwise, had opposed
Asian participation in the establishment of the Asian Manpower Unit to quell
the Mau Mau rebellion.This made him a
candidate for detention.In fact, the Mau
Mau (‘Forest Fighters’) had vowed as a retaliatory measure to cut down the
Asian traders in the African Reserves and small towns.However, Pio managed to dissuade them from
this course of action.He argued that
these poor Asian traders should not bear the brunt of the attack as their
misguided leaders (some British stooges) were to blame.Not only did Pio obtain and channel help to
the families of the victims, but he even paid for their children’s schooling,
food and clothing, as far as was possible, out of his own pocket.

When the
freedom fighters found that they could not hold out indefinitely against the
well-equipped army, they fled into the forests and used Pio as a go-between to
request a ceasefire. Knowing that the settlers would crush the rebellion, Pio
approached the Government of India via its Acting High Commissioner (R. K.
Tandau) and asked that the question of negotiations be taken up at the highest
level with the Colonial Office.The
British Government’s attitude was favourable and the then Commander-in-Chief,
General Erskine, and other officials were asked to meet with the Forest
Fighters.However, this meeting was
sabotaged by the local settlers who held high posts.The security forces opened fire on the
representatives of the Forest Fighters.The local government wanted a scapegoat to take the blame for the
failure of the meeting, so they detained Pio under the Emergency Regulations.
He was not allowed a proper trial or hearing; he was also denied legal
aid.He was held incommunicado and after
a few days in Nairobi
sent to Mombasa
under heavy police escort.He was later
moved to Lamu Island and then Manda Island where thousands of hard core Mau Mau
were exiled for years under terrible conditions.Pio was offered better facilities, but
decline them on principle.He lived like
the rest of his comrades on maize-meal flour, rice, fish etc.Our family sent him 1.50 shillings a month
for cigarettes etc.However, he
preferred to share the money with the needy.He was interrogated by the Special Security teams on several occasions.They promised him an early release if he
would confess.He refused to give into
their threats even at the threat of deportation.He was offered a one-way ticket to India which he
again declined as he wanted a fair trial.His time in the detention camp has been covered in various publications.

While in
detention, Pio was not allowed to see his dying father, Anton Filipe.Ironically, they are both buried in the same
grave at the City Park Cemetery in Nairobi.I was not allowed to see him in detention because of my political
associations and involvement. Years later, Pio was exiled to an isolated
district called Kabarnet where he worked as an administrator in the District
Commissioner’s office. (While he was in Kabarnet, he met Daniel arap Moi and
guided him into politics, which resulted in the formation of the Challenging
Political Party.) Pio's new job allowed
him more freedom to read newspapers.Emma
was eventually able to join him.He was
even allowed to visit Nairobi for Emma’s confinement. He stayed with me, under
a friend’s supervision.Although Pio met
up with political figures, he was given a good report, which expedited the
rescinding of the Restriction Order a few months later.

On the
pretext of being rehabilitated, Pio was allowed a transfer to the Education
Department in Nairobi
and served eight months.He then
resigned and worked full time for Kenya African National Union (KANU), formed
by Mboya, Odinga, Gichuru, Kiano etc.The first aim was to seek more representation in Parliament, the
immediate release of Jomo Kenyatta and other detainees, without which there
would be no cooperation with the Government or further talks on constitutional
advancement.Pio drafted many documents
and speeches for political figures.He
felt the time had come to form a more progressive Asian political party, as
compared with the Kenya India Congress, and formed the Kenya Freedom Party lead
by Chanan Singh and other progressive Indians from all over Kenya.This body was more forceful and articulate in
voicing nationalist sentiment.Pio also
had a hand in the formation of the East Africa Goan League under Dr Alex da
Costa, which in addition to identifying itself with the problems in Kenya and
neighbouring territories, also championed the cause of liberation for Goa and
the other Portuguese colonies in Africa.

Pio
organised social functions and other fundraising events to meet the cost of
political expenses i.e. sending delegations overseas.

Pio
worked tirelessly for Jomo Kenyatta's release and even antagonised former
friends who went on to become ministers in Kenyatta’s Government.They did not want Kenyatta released from
detention.Pio did his best to provide
for Kenyatta’s and Koinange-wa-Mbiyu’s families.In fact, Chief Koinange died in his arms
while they were detained in Karbanet.Pio used his influence to extend and furnish Kenyatta’s house after his
release and made great efforts to improve his tarnished reputation.He knew that the same “divide and rule”
policy used by the British in India would be used to disunite the parties.

Pio also
broke the apartheid rules by entering European restaurants and hotels in Nairobi and Mombasa in 1951.He and his friends would be physically
ejected or coerced to leave by the police.As a result of his efforts, plus the changing political situation nearer
to independence, non-whites were finally allowed access to these same
restaurants etc.

When the
African-American leader, Malcolm X visited Kenya, he found he had a lot in
common with Pio.They planned a common
strategy to deal with the daily humiliation and indignities suffered by both Africans
and African Americans.Malcolm X was
assassinated on 21 February 1965, three days before Pio. Their murders are
linked in that both were considered dangerous to vested interests.

Malcolm
X was a brilliant man who saw through the camouflages of his own
Government.He, unlike the more moderate
Martin Luther King Jr, felt stronger measures were required to bring an end to
racial injustices, including discrimination in employment, housing and other services
which were endured by African-Americans.

Pio also
built up the Pan African Press in Nairobi by obtaining financial assistance for
its set-up from the Government of India and other 'friendly' governments.He printed it both in English and local
languages.Prior to this, he was at the
mercy of other Asian printers who under duress were unable to oblige him, even
on payment.

In 1964 Pio
worked tirelessly to establish the Patrice Lumumba Institute in Nairobi.Its objective was to educate Kenyans and people
from other non-independent African countries about the needs and requirements
of African society, without any political indoctrination form either Eastern or
Western European countries whose ideologies and society were alien to African
culture and tradition.

Pio saw
Goa free and was asked to come back to help the newly independent State.However, he felt that there was enough talent
in Goa.He had a greater contribution to make to millions of Africans still
under the yoke of colonialism.

Pio was
often threatened and even a month before his death was aware of a plot to kill
him by prominent politicians.Although
upset about the plot, he carried on as normal until his untimely death on 24
February 1965.He was on his way to
organise a demonstration against the American Embassy and Moïse
Tshombe who was heading the Congo Government Delegation at the Organisation of
African Unity (OAU) Talks.Tshombe was
the best example of a colonial stooge on the African continent at that time.Pio was contemplating going to Lindi in Tanzania to
direct the fight against Portuguese colonialism, but Kenyan politics were at a
critical stage, which made his presence there imperative.

Pio’s
experience in the Indian Trade Union movement was particularly useful. Sardar
Makhan Singh and Stephen Rao were of immense help in building the African trade
union movement, later lead by the late Tom Mboya.Pio sincerely believed that Kenyan Trade
Union movement's development should be dictated by local conditions and
environment.

Pio and
his colleagues smuggled messages about prison conditions and other matters to
Tom Mboya, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and Julius Kiano (the first elected African
Representatives to Kenya’s Legislative Council).

Even
though Tom Mboya had occasional differences with Pio, he mourned his
death.He knew that this assassination
would lead to many more, including his own as it turned out.

Pio,
knowing that his life was in danger, had expected me to keep out of
politics.I obeyed him until his
detention when I felt a strong urge to take up the cause despite the negative
impact it was to have on my health, family and finances.

Pio was
murdered to silence him and put an end to his dream to implement socialism, the
ideals for which the people had formed the Government.Now that independence had been gained, and
the armed forces’ loyalty had been bought, those in power considered it a
convenient time to assassinate Pio as a warning to other dedicated
nationalists.

He never
wanted to occupy any high posts, preferring to assign them to his trusted and
talented friends like Joseph Murumbi, Pran Lal Seth etc.Initially, he felt he could achieve more
behind the scenes; but then changed his mind. He felt that the only way to
achieve his goals and ideals was to be elected to Parliament.

Pio’s
sincerity and dedication to the African independence cause was greatly admired
by representatives of many governments.He was invited to visit Egypt, India, Algeria and Czechoslovakia.

We would like to fervently and publicly acknowledge the critical inputs in producing this tribute provided by Savio Ribeiro, Pinto's first cousin, who grew up in Uganda, but is now based in Bahrain; Pinto's nephew, Clarence, and niece, Audrey, both based in Melbourne, Australia; Pinto's children: Linda (also known as Linette), Tereshka and Malusha (also known as Marie Charles), together with Pinto's widow, Emma, all based in Canada. I personally spoke to Savio on the phone and both Linda and Clarence emailed me directly in the run up to March 7, 2015. Emma has been in direct contact with the veteran Kenyan human rights lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee who, along with Davinder Lamba were the initiators and part of the core group putting on the tribute to Pio Gama Pinto.

Which
informs you that at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, FEBRUARY THE TWENTY FOURTH, a
hushed and stunned Kenya National Assembly was informed by the Speaker,
Sir Humphrey Slade, that the MP representing what is now Westlands
Constituency was shot dead as he was leaving his drive way on his way
to Parliament. The Vice President, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga made a motion
for the house to be adjourned in honour and mourning for the slain Pio
da Gama Pinto. Tom Mboya, a powerful minister and Secretary General of
the ruling party KANU seconded the motion. After a ten minute session,
the Speaker adjourned proceedings for 24 hours.

What adds to the confusion is this newspaper headline from the Daily Nation newspaper:

Dear reader, please scrutinize the DATE.

By the way Pinto's killers have never been caught to date, March 2015.

Kisilu Mutua, who spent 36 years behind bars for a crime he never committed, a poor 21 year old vendor, was a convenient scapegoat.

Fifty
years later, we are alive to the fact that Pinto’s assassination is what
ushered in a sordid era of state linked terror against those who were seen to
be anti the status quo- the wiping out of the Mau Mau Generals Bamuingi and
Chui; the daylight killing of Tom Mboya; the later brutal deaths of JM Kariuki,
Robert Ouko, Father John Kaiser, Karimi Nduthu and others. This culture
undoubtedly culminated into what is unquestionably the nadir of our national
political contestations where major players across the partisan divide were implicated
by the Waki Report and subsequently the widely televised ICC trials which has
left a more traumatized, more ethnicized and definitely more polarized nation
despite the lofty hopes and aspirations of the 2010 Constitution.

The
death of Pinto was the first sledge hammer hauled at the Kenyan progressive
forces, especially those who like Pinto identified themselves with the
socialist ideology.

Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya and the right wing in KANU would
soon follow with the draconian security laws of 1965 ushering in detention
without trial, an eerie harbinger of the harsh security regime passed by the
Jubilee administration in 2014. Pinto’s passing was also a death knell to
ideological issuebased politics, a
distant cry from the current farcical charade where the National Assembly has
entire sessions devoted to determine whether or notgovernors are entitled to fly flags in their
gas guzzlers or deign to refer themselves as “Excellency”.

By
killing Pinto, Kenyatta KANU the regime was also sending a chilling message to Kenyans of
Asian heritage not to rock the boat. Soon after his death, close associates of
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who happened to be Kenyans of South Asian descent were
“deported” often to India- a country some of them had never seen!The ensuing xenophobia contributed to a siege
mentality within this important section of the wider Kenyan community. The
later racist outbursts of“nationalists”
likeMartin Shikuku and Kenneth Matiba
on the alleged dominance of “Indians” on the Kenyan economy only helped to
mislead a gullible public some more.

Today
as we remember Pinto and his active solidarity and support for the Mau Mau and
national progressive causes; as we celebrate his courageous journalism in the Kenya
Chronicle and his seminal role in launching Sauti ya KANU and later the Pan
Africa Press, let us do justice by continuing his legacy in entrenching
democracy, social justice, egalitarianism and yes, socialism.

Had
the Lumumba Institute, which Pinto slaved day and night to establish in 1964 as
an ideological training institute for party cadres taken root, we would not
have in the twenty first century the pathetic phenomenon where at least two
sitting presidents successively abandon the very parties that propelled them to
power.

In
2015, we should continue Pinto’s work of nation building by creating a Kenya
which transcends tribalism, sexism, racism and neo-liberalism.

Kenya has NOT FORGOTTEN PIO GAMA PINTO.

Even
the Kenya Government, which in its earlier Sixties incarnation was directly
responsible for ordering the assassination of this beloved patriot, ULTIMATELY succumbed to the massive, overwhelming national sentiment of affection and adoration for Pinto by
producing this stamp:

Let us rewind by scrolling through the following pictorial excerpts from the life and times of Pio da Gama Pinto

On Saturday, March 7, 2015 Kenyans are celebrating our great Shujaa, our indomitable and inimitable Mzalendo: